Hooked on fishing at Lake Benmore

Donn Holmes, from Calgary, fishes Lake Benmore during his seventh trip to New Zealand. Photo by David Bruce.

Ministry of Works' engineers and workers who built the Benmore dam would never have dreamt that almost 50 years later the lake they created would become the second most popular in New Zealand for fishermen.

The latest national angler survey undertaken by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) ranks Lake Benmore second only behind Lake Taupo as the most-fished lake in New Zealand.

It also makes it the most popular fishing lake in any fish and game council region - Lake Taupo is administered by the Department of Conservation.

That has come as a surprise to the Temuka-based Central South Island Fish Council, which is responsible for administering freshwater angling at Lake Benmore.

"It's hard to conceive - we thought other lakes such as Lake Wanaka would have ranked ahead," fish and game officer Mark Webb said.

But Mr Webb regarded the survey result as "a good news story", with economic spin-offs for towns in the vicinity.

Kurow-based fish and game officer Graeme Hughes, who has lived in the area for 32 years, was less surprised by Benmore's rapid growth in angling popularity, but still did not expect it to be so highly ranked.

He recalled his father driving from Christchurch to fish the lake when it was filled and the fish population exploded in both size and numbers.

But he never expected it to be so popular almost 50 years later.

The Niwa survey, the third, is carried out every six to seven years on behalf of fish and game councils.

Preliminary results are available to fish and game councils, and the final report has yet to be released.

The huge growth in Benmore's ranking is reflected in the figures.

The lake is open for fishing all year, providing an outlet for anglers outside the normal season.

In the 1994-95 season, angler use of Lake Benmore was estimated at 13,000 angler days, placing it eighth most-fished in New Zealand of the fish and game council-administered lakes (which excludes Lake Taupo).

Ahead of it were Lakes Rotoiti (43,370 anglers days), Rotorua (40,190), Wanaka (25,530), Dunstan (22,250), Wakatipu (21,410), Waikaremoana (20,620) and Hawea (18,820).

In 2001-02, Lake Benmore at 22,000 angler days was ranked sixth, behind Rotoiti (43,080), Hawea (28,160), Wanaka (25,530) and Dunstan (22,250).

In the latest survey over the 2007-08 season, Lake Benmore had jumped to the top of the fish and game council lakes list with 57,000 angler days.

That represents "an immense increase" - 475% - since the first survey was carried out.

And, despite greater fishing, the lake's stocks of brown and rainbow trout and chinook and sockeye salmon are holding their own.

"Complaints of lack of fish that might be expected to accompany such an increase have been absent, indicating the lake was either underutilised previously or the productivity of the fishery has increased to sustain the extra angler attention," Mr Webb said.

Anglers were quick to voice their disappointment if fishing quality fell.